Plague Anthology
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Vaccine Hesitancy – Egypt 1866
Archaeological evidence suggests that smallpox has been present in Egypt for some 3000 years and later was a recurrent problem across the Islamic world, as well as Europe. Accurately described by the physician al-Razi in the 10th century, vaccination or variolation (transferring matter from a smallpox scab from one person to another through a scratchContinue reading “Vaccine Hesitancy – Egypt 1866”
Cocolitzli – the Great Plague – Mexico 1576 A.D.
In about 1575-6, Mexico was struck by the worst epidemic, the region had ever known. Witnesses there at the time spoke of half or even two thirds of the population succumbing – a higher mortality rate even than the Black Death. The Spanish physicians did not recognise any of the European diseases with which theyContinue reading “Cocolitzli – the Great Plague – Mexico 1576 A.D.”
Theriac – a Very Sovereign Remedy for the Plague – Galen c.166-170 A.D.
Theriac – the origin of our word treacle – is a complex medicine, some of the recipes for which sound like the witches’ incantation in Macbeth: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boil and bake….. One version requiredContinue reading “Theriac – a Very Sovereign Remedy for the Plague – Galen c.166-170 A.D.”
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Plague Anthology 